Migrant deaths and disappearances

Last updated on 01 March 2025

Contents

Trends: Migrant deaths in countries of crisis
Definition
Data sources
Data strengths & limitations
1. Further reading

Thematic pages are not being updated as of March 2025. In the meantime, please also go to the Portal's dashboard or key figures section.

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Since 2014, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded more than 72,000 fatalities on migratory routes worldwide. 2024 was the deadliest year on record of migrant deaths and disappearances, marking the second consecutive year with an annual death toll exceeding 8,700¹.  

In 2024, Africa, Asia, and Europe experienced the highest number of migration-related deaths during migration ever recorded.

The recorded number of deaths, however, represents only a minimum estimate because the majority of migrant deaths around the world go unrecorded. These data not only highlight the issue of migrant fatalities and the consequences for families left behind, but can also be used to assess the risks of irregular migration and to design policies and programmes to make migration safer. 

Trends: Migrant deaths in countries of crisis

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded the deaths and disappearances of more than 72,000 women, men and children between 2014 and 2024 (Missing Migrants Project, 2025):

More than half (54%) of all migrant deaths in 2024 occurred in countries in crisis, including Libya, Yemen, and Sudan (ibid).

One in four missing migrants (27% or 19,000) originated from countries in crisis globally. Nearly 11,000 of those that died en route fleeing a crisis died in another country of crisis. Migrants originating from Asia are disproportionately represented, with more than 10,000 deaths and disappearances recorded since 2014 (ibid).The three main nationalities of migrants who have died or disappeared en route since 2014 are Afghans (5046), Myanma (Rohingya) (3149) and Syrians (1923) (ibid).

While drowning remains the main cause of death during migration, deaths due to violence were significantly higher in countries in crisis compared to non-crisis countries (10% vs. 4%) (ibid).

Information on sex is only available for 1 out of 3 people (27,348 of the nearly 72,797 people) who lost their lives during migration globally between 2014 and 2024. Among these 27,348 migrant deaths where data on sex are available, 23.5 per cent were women. Nearly half (43%) of the deaths of identified female migrants occurred during sea crossings, where the survival chances of women may be lower by factors such as pregnancy or caring for their children on board (ibid).

Regional trends

The vast majority of migrant deaths recorded by the Missing Migrants Project have occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, where one in four migrant deaths in 2024 took place. Roughly one in 120 people who attempted the Mediterranean crossing died in 2024, the highest death rate² since 2021. Compared to 2023, deaths recorded in the Mediterranean increased by 18 per cent in 2024, whereas arrivals to Europe decreased by 31 per cent and interceptions by North African and Turkish authorities decreased by 19 per cent.³

Missing Migrants: Causes of death and disappearances during transit worldwide, by region, 2014 – 2024. The most updated figures can be consulted on the Missing Migrants Project website. For information on how these figures are calculated, visit the Project’s methodology page.

The Central Mediterranean route from Northern Africa towards Italy and, to a lesser degree, Malta accounts for the highest number of reported deaths and disappearances during migration, claiming the lives of more than 1,700 people in 2024.
Several other regions of the world have seen thousands of deaths during migration since 2014. More than 2,000 deaths have been recorded across the African continent in 2024, the majority of which occurred on transit routes such as the maritime route from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands (1,167) and the Sahara Desert crossing (478), one of the deadliest land crossings on record.
The deaths of more than 2,700 people have been documented during migration in Asia in 2024, often linked to Rohingya refugees and Afghan nationals who died fleeing outbreaks of violence in their home countries. 2024 marked the deadliest year on record in this region since the Missing Migrants Project started tracking migrant deaths and disappearances in 2014.
In the Americas, at least 1,189 people have been reported dead or missing during migration in 2024. While data for this region remains incomplete due to delays in official reporting, it is notable that the Caribbean has already reached a 301 deaths and disappearances, many of whom were Dominican (94), Cuban (77), and Haitian (44).

Quality of data in crisis contexts

More than half of all deaths recorded by IOM since 2014 occurred within or at the borders of countries in crisis, with more than 39,000 dead or missing on transit routes in countries with a humanitarian response plan in place^[1]. Tracking migrant deaths and disappearances is extremely difficult for the following reasons:

Missing information on identities of migrant deaths

Less is known about the identities of those who die in crisis contexts as compared to non-crisis countries. In total, more than 10,000 males, 3,000 females, and 2,200 children have died in transit in countries in crisis since 2014, leaving more than 23,000 people for whom no demographic information is known. This is likely linked to the fact that fewer resources exist to recover and identify remains in crisis contexts, but is also due to biases in the available data as defined by Missing Migrants Project’s methodology.

Missing governmental data sources and policies

Less than 5 per cent of cases in countries in crisis are recorded from government sources, compared to 23 per cent in non-crisis contexts. The paucity of reliable government sources such as coroners or medical examiners in countries in crisis means available data is often based on sources which are invaluable but incomplete. This includes surveys, such as eyewitness reports in the Sahara Desert collected by IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix which only ask survivors a short set of questions to minimize re-traumatization. In cases of violent deaths, many reports come from informants who do not have full access to details of each incident, and investigation is hindered by the potential dangers to the actors involved.

Data from IOM’s Migration Governance Indicators, which has conducted assessments in more than 100 countries, shows that only 11 per cent of countries have policies to trace and identify missing migrants. In the 25 countries in crisis assessed by the MGI, just 16 per have policies on missing migrants. While the proportion of crisis-affected countries with policies in place is slightly higher, the large number of deaths in countries in crisis indicates that in practice, action on missing migrants is lacking. Despite tens of thousands of missing migrants recorded in countries in crisis, humanitarian needs assessments, appeals and impact evaluations frequently do not include specific actions mitigating risks of migrants dying or going missing.

^[1]Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, State of Palestine, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Türkiye, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen

Definition

There is a range in how migrant deaths are defined. The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Missing Migrants Project documents deaths and disappearances of people in the process of migration towards an international destination. This definition is similar to that used by other initiatives, such as the Deaths at the Borders Database in Europe, except that it also includes migrants who have gone missing while traversing bodies of water on their journey. This approach is chosen because deaths that occur at physical borders and while en route represent a clearly definable category, and inform the risks that people face on different migration routes around the world. Unidentified remains found at border crossings or on major migratory routes may be categorized as migrants based on their belongings and the characteristics of their deaths. For example, the death of a Honduran national who fell off a freight train in Mexico may be recorded as a migrant death given that Central American migrants frequently use the network of freight trains, commonly known as La Bestia (The Beast) to travel through Mexico to reach the United States (US) border. Because these deaths often occur during irregular migration, data collection and analysis of migrant deaths are highly related to this topic.  

Other sources of data may also include deaths which are not included in IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, such as those that:

Occur in refugee camps, detention facilities, or housing;

Take place after deportation or forced return to a migrant’s homeland; or

Are more loosely connected with migrants’ ‘irregular migration status’, such as those resulting from xenophobia, labour exploitation or other structural discrimination.

Most sources of data on migrant deaths do not include deaths resulting from internal migration or those of long-term foreign residents. Destination and origin state authorities often collect such data.

Data sources

Several primary sources provide information on migrant deaths. Various platforms consolidate these data together at the global, regional, national, and local levels.  

Data collection at the global level

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, which started in 2014, is the only database that collects data on migrant deaths worldwide. The sources of data used vary depending on the availability within each region. For example, in the Mediterranean region, local staff from IOM  relay data from when they assist survivors at disembarkation points in Libya. On the US-Mexico border, data are compiled based on data from US county medical examiners and sheriffs’ offices, Mexican Search and Rescue (SAR) bodies and media sources. On the Sahara Desert crossing survey data from IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) are included.  Estimates in other regions are based on a combination of official sources, IOM and other UN agencies data, civil society organizations data, and media reports.  

Data collection at the regional level

Surveys and interviews with migrants can also serve as a source of information about migrant deaths. However, such methods involve the inability to verify reported information, the possibility of double counting the same incident reported independently by more than one respondent, and relatively small sample sizes that are not necessarily representative. Different sources gather information on migrant fatalities through surveys and interviews at different stages of migration. IOM's Missing Migrants Project receives data on migrant deaths collected through the Flow Monitoring Surveys conducted by IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in Mali, Niger, Libya, Sudan, and Chad.

Datasets: In terms of consolidating primary information, there are several datasets at a national, regional and route-based level:

UNHCR collects information about migrant deaths occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, though they produce only a single summary figure without publishing their methodology or disaggregated data.

Deaths at the Border Database collected data from local authorities in Greece, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta and Spain on the bodies of migrants who died between 1990 and 2013.

Between 2000 and 2016, the Migrant Files, a consortium of journalists, collected information on people who died trying to reach, as well as trying to stay in Europe irregularly. Their records comprise news articles as well as data from two other databases on migrant deaths: the data produced by the Dutch organization UNITED for Intercultural Action; and the data from Fortress Europe, which had collected information since the early 1990s. All three of these sources collected their data primarily from media reports, and used a definition of migrant deaths which includes deaths in detention and those connected to irregular legal status.

Australian Border Deaths Dataset, initially produced by the Border Crossing Observatory in Monash University, Australia and later The ANZSOC Thematic Group on Crimmigration and Border Control, has recorded deaths “associated with Australia’s borders” since 2000.

Since 2019, the non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras, has been compiling and publishing data on incidents involving migrant deaths and disappearances on the West Africa Atlantic Route (WAAR) to the Canary Islands. The organization publishes no longer publishes a list of specific incidents and now only includes summary figures in their annual reports.

Data collection at the local and/or national level

Case studies: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has published reports and conducts investigations into cases of worker deaths, including those of migrant workers. (For example, ILO, 2021). However, it does not host publicly consolidated records. 

On nationals abroad: Some governments publish records of the deaths of their nationals abroad, whether they died while migrating, in detention or at work.

These include:

El Observatorio Consular y Migratorio de Honduras;

The Mexican Foreign Ministry;

The Bangladeshi Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Administrative data records: Data on migrant deaths are often not disaggregated from general data on deaths at a federal or local level. Where available, records kept by law enforcement, medical examiners, and death registries may provide data on migrant deaths, though the quality and availability of such records vary greatly. These include:

US Customs and Border Protection, which publishes the number of “illegal border crossers” who have died crossing the southern border of the country; however, this number only includes cases in which their officers were directly involved.  
Humane Borders, which uses data from the Pima County and Arizona county medical examiners to map the deaths of people who have died while crossing the border.

Turkish Coast Guard, whose Irregular Migration Statistics page includes a table summarizing deaths of migrants off the coast of Izmir by month and year since 2015.

Media reports: Social and traditional media often report on events that involve death(s) during migration, though the quality, completeness and accuracy of such reports may vary greatly. The Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía publishes an annual report with estimates of the number of people who died trying to reach Spain irregularly (including across Spain’s sea and land borders), which is based largely off of media reports. 

Data strengths & limitations

Data on migrant deaths can be used to inform the discussion on the risks of migration and the effects of immigration and border policies. Migrant deaths data also contributes to the discussion of UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.7, which calls for safe migration, specifically, it informs indicator 10.7.3 on the “[n]umber of people who died or disappeared in the process of migration towards an international destination.” As well as Objective 8 of the Global Compact for Migration, which calls on States to "save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrant". Nevertheless, data on migrant deaths represent a minimum estimate in all regions, given the numerous challenges related to collecting and consolidating migrant deaths data. 

Primary data collection challenges include: 

Few official sources collect and publish data on migrant deaths.

As deaths occur primarily when migrants travel by irregular means, it means they are often in remote areas chosen with the aim of evading detection. As a result, bodies are often not found or they are not found for a long time, and deaths may not be reported to authorities.

When deaths occur at sea, many bodies may not be recovered. Without passenger lists, the precise number of missing persons is unknown.

The involvement of criminal or government actors in the facilitation of irregular migration may make survivors fearful of reporting deaths and some deaths may even be actively covered up.

Challenges related to consolidating data include:

There is varying quality and comprehensiveness of data across regions. Therefore, attempts to estimate deaths globally may exaggerate the share of deaths that occur in some regions, while under-representing the share occurring in others. For example, some experts believe that the Sahara Desert crossing is more deadly than that over the Mediterranean Sea. See J, Black (2020), “No one talks about what it’s really like” – risks faced by migrants in the Sahara Desert.

Different data collectors may use differing definitions of “migrant deaths”, making comparisons difficult.

Information from media sources may have incomplete or inaccurate coverage.

Another challenge with data on migrant deaths (and with other data on migrants), is to convey the people behind the numbers. As often as possible, the context of deaths should be included in communications about the data, with the aim of humanizing each death and avoiding their normalization. Each number represents a person, as well as the family and community that they leave behind. 